Browns left tackle Joe Thomas played college football at Wisconsin, but Ravens outside linebacker Paul Kruger’s got him pegged as more of a Duke basketball player.
Kruger accused Thomas of acting to draw a penalty that gave the Browns a last chance last night.
Kruger shoved the Browns left tackle with both hands on his shoulder, and Brown went down like he had been shot by a cannon. The result was an unnecessary roughness penalty on fourth down, which gave the Browns another play with two seconds left.
“I was just getting held pretty bad,” Kruger said, via Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. “I threw my hands at him to get him off me and he flopped pretty bad. Unfortunately, they called it. I wish I was that strong. I would be doing that every play. Yeah, he just flopped pretty bad.”
That Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden fired up an airball under pressure meant it ultimately didn’t matter, but Thomas’ Christian Laettner/Shane Battier-worthy dive meant Kruger was close to being the goat.
“From what I have been told, there wasn’t much there,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “I’ll have to see it first, but we talked about it. And that’s always a concern. That’s always something, as a football coach, I think you have to look at.
“Sometimes, the smallest thing is going to be misinterpreted, maybe in your eyes, and you just have to walk away from everything. You walk away from everything in that kind of situation. He knows that.”
In other news, Mike Krzyzewski was hanging around outside the Browns locker room, checking if Thomas has any eligibility left.